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Dr. Hans Zarkov

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Performer:
Jody Racicot (Sci Fi Channel)
Frank Shannon (serials)
Topol (movie)
Zarkov's introduction in the 1934 comic strip. He's a little on edge because he's been working too hard.
Zarkov, with a typical invention.

Dr. Hans Zarkov is a scientific genius, more or less.

Contents

Comic strip

Dr. Zarkov is introduced in the first Flash Gordon comic strip. Zarkov works in his "great observatory", building a rocket ship so that he can save Earth from colliding with Mongo. But the pressure proves to be too much for him -- "His great brain is weakening under the strain!", as the narrator puts it -- and by the time he meets Flash and Dale, Zarkov is "a madman" and "a disheveled, wild-eyed figure." Still, his invention works -- the rocket takes off, and travels to Mongo. [1]

The rocket crashes on the surface, and Zarkov is presumed dead. Flash rescues Dale from the crash and doesn't give another thought to Zarkov, until he shows up three months later, on April 24th.

When the Sky City of the Hawkmen is about to topple from the sky, Zarkov invents an atomic light-solidifier, which stabilizes the city. A grateful King Vultan gives Zarkov a royal title: "Prince Zarkov of the Hawkmen, and Supreme Lord of All Scientists." [2]

Serials

Dr. Zarkov invents a rocket ship which flies to Mongo, [3] and a ray that turns people invisible. [4]

In Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, Zarkov's first name is Alexis; we see his full name printed on his apartment door. [5]

Being that Zarkov worked with Lawrence Gordon and is supposed to be a mentor figure to Flash, he may have been in part the inspiration for Star Wars' Obi-wan Kenobi, as George Lucas said that the idea for Star Wars came from watching the Flash Gordon serials as a child.

Sci Fi Channel

As a graduate student, Zarkov worked with Flash's father, Lawrence Gordon on the "Portage Initiative", developing technology to explore rifts between Earth and other planets. He now works in a laboratory located in a warehouse, monitoring rifts. He's very aware of the American government's cover-ups, and has become somewhat paranoid.

Dr. Zarkov through the years

First words

  • Comic strip: "Friends, bah! You're spies!"
  • Radio serial: "I know you for what you are -- spies!"
  • 1936 serial: "Stop! Stay where you are."
  • 1979 cartoon: "They seem to be mutants, bred to live in the sea."
  • Movie: "No sun? Check the angular vector of the moon."
  • Sci Fi Channel: "Please don't touch me. I don't like being touched."

References

  1. ↑ Flash Gordon comic strip. January 7, 1934.
  2. ↑ Flash Gordon, "The Tournaments of Mongo". November 25, 1934.
  3. ↑ Flash Gordon serial, "The Planet of Peril".
  4. ↑ Flash Gordon serial, "In the Claws of the Tigron".
  5. ↑ Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, "New Worlds to Conquer", 1938.
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